Improvement in sole-cutting machines



N.PETERS, PHOTO-L THOGRAFrFR WASHINGTON o a.

UNrraD STATES PATENT Orricn.

`,SAMUEL S. WEED,OF STONEHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SOLE-CUTTING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters PatentNo. 39,437, dated August 4, 1863.

To all whom it muy concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL S. WEED, of Stoneham, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Sole-Cutting Machines; and I do `hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference bein g had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in

which- Figure 1 is a side elevation. Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, are diiferent views of the grooved boxes by means of which the die and cutting The nature of my invention consists, first,

in causing a die or knife (making a semi-rotation after each cutting operation, so as to cut alternately heel and toe) to strike upon a rotating last-shaped cutting-block or blocks, so that the toe of said knife or die shall aways point in the same direction as the toe of the said block or blocks, whereby the proper bevel for a iinished shoe may be cut on4 the sole; second, in thepeculiar devices for giving a semi-rotation of the knife or block after each cutting` operation, said devices consisting of a pin on the rotating shaft of the knife or block, acting in combination with grooves and spring valves or dogs infthe boxes through which said shaft plays up and down third,

in the peculiar combination of devices,where by the die and block are heldwhile the cutting operation is Vperformed5fourth, in the employment of a slotted vibrating-cam, U, and fixed pin i, so that said cam may operate equally well-whichever way the machine isdriv en; fifth, in the use of a vibrating door, s, to prevent the cut soles from dropping through at the wrong time and place, and thereby impede the movement of the machine 5 and, sixth, in regulating-2'. e., raising or depressing-the cutting-block by means of a screw, I, passing through the lever .I onto the top of the toggle H, at the top of the shaft that carries said block.

T0 enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A is a frame, of cast-iron or other suitable material, and A are the legs. l

B is a vertical shaft passing through and turning freely in the frame A, as shown in Fig. 1.

C is the knife bed, fast to the top of the shaft B.

D is the die or knife, constructed like those in general use, and so shaped as to cut a sole Aof the proper contour fora nished shoe, and D is a dat piece of iron to which the die is attached, the sides of said piece being beveled so as to slide into a corresponding groove in thel top of C, by means of which the die is securely held in place.

o, Fig. 7, is an opening in the side of diebed C, through which the cut-out soles drop down.

s is a hinged door, provided with an arm, t, which, by striking on the cam u on the frame A, lifts said door, and thus prevents the soles from dropping out, except at the proper time and place, so as not to impede the action of the l clasps the shaft B, being held together by screws a. In each half of the box is a groove, X, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, sufficiently large to admit the friction-wheel m, (see Fig. 6,) which turns on a pin projecting from the side of the shaft B.

W W are spring-valves or dogs, shaped and placed as shown in Figs.- 3 and 4, the lower ends of said valves being fast to the pin Z, which passes through the half V and turns over at a right angle, as represented in Fig. 4.

Y is a flat spring, held by the start l, and bent as shown in Fig. 5, so as to rest against the pin Z, by means of which itis obvious that E the valvesW, when free to move, will be forced into the position shown in Fig. 3.

- N is a lever vibrating on the fulcrum-arm O, and attached at one end of the box V by means of a pin, b, and at the other extremity to the connecting-rod M by means of the pin d. The upper end ofthe rod M is pivoted to the arm J, which vibrates on the fulcrum J and is actuated by means of the pitinan K and crank L, the latter being driven by any suitable power applied to the pulley or fly-wheel n. Thus, the machine being set in motion, it

is obvious thatlthe box V will be made to slide up and down on the shaft B, and, as the roll m on the latter travels in the grooves X, it follows that the shaft B will be madeto rotate. The roll m, first moving in astraight line past one of the spring-valves W, pushes it? past the other spring-valve, and be by'it in turn forced into the other groove, X. Thus after each cutting operation, a semi-rotation will be given to the die, so as to cut heel and toe alternately.

E is the wooden cutting-block, the bottom of which is shaped like the bottom of a last, so that (the leather being pressed againstit by the die) the sole will be cut out with the requisite bevel in the hollow aswell as in the dat of the foot, said block E being attached to the bed' E by means of a dovetail mortise and tenon, or in any other obvious manner. This block E is fast to the bottom of the shaft F, which (being provided with a roll, m, in the same manner as the shaft B) passes through the stationary boxes V V', which are provided with grooves and spring-valves, exactly like those described and shown inFigs. 2, 3, 4, and 5, by which it is obvious that a semirotation will be given to the block E, after each cutting operation, precisely as it is given to the die D.

F is a continuation of the shaft F, the top f of the latter being turned smaller, so as to i'orm a shoulder and enter ahole in F,`as represented in Fig. 1 by the dotted lines, which arrangement allows the shaft F to turn, while the part F is prevented from turning by means of the strap G, which supports it.

H is a toggle, the top of which bears on the under side of J, or the end of screw I, and the bottom on the top of F.

I is a screw, which, passing freely througha slot in the top of the strap G, screws into and through the lever J, so that its point or end shall rest on the top of the toggle H, by means of which it is obvious that the block E can be readily raised or depressed at pleasure.

In order to bring the block and die with perfect accuracy into the proper position previous to each cutting operation, I make a vertical groove in the center of both ends of the beds C and E', as represented in Fig. 7 and by the dotted'lines in Fig. l, and cause the to the grooves in their ends.

l rod T,

guides P and Q to enter and leave said grooves at the proper time. The guide Pis shaped as shown in Fig. 1, being pivoted at its top to theirame at j its lower extremity passing through the guide Q and into the lever S. The guide Q passes through a start, Q', and into the frame A, as shown in Fig. 1, Rbeing a spring by means of which both Q and P are forced toward the beds C and E and in- P and Q are withdrawn from the grooves in the beds at the proper time by means of the lever S, (which turns on the fulcrum 9,) the connectingthrough the start T,') and the cam U, attached to the axle of the crank L. The-cam U is loosely attached to the axle of L, and is provided with a slot, as shown in Fig. l, being prevented from turning too far in either direction by means of the pin i, which is fast in the axle of L, the object of said pin and slot in the cam being to allow the same to vibrate to either side, so as to move the rod T at the proper time for withdrawing the guides P and Q which ever way the pulley n may happen to be driven. y

Having thus described the construction and operation of my machine, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Rotating the die D and a last-shaped cutting-block simultaneously, so that the toe of the knife shall always correspond with-the toe of the block, substantially as set forth, and

for the purpose described.

2. The particular combination of devices for giving a partial rotation of the knife or block after each cutting operation, said devices consisting of the pin or roller m, grooves X, and

spring-valves W, substantially as and for the l SAML. S.

Witnesses:`

N AMEs, B. C. MoULroN.

(which is pivoted to S and passesY 

